The nine-time SW19 champion knows better than most what it takes to get over the Centre Court finishing line on finals day.

And she admits to gasping in awe after watching the Serb conquer his own mental demons on Sunday and also get the better of the greatest grass court player ever.

Djokovic had lost his last three Grand Slam finals and five of his last six before his epic five-set tussle with Roger Federer.

The top seed had the trophy in the palm of his hand as he led 5-2 in the fourth but almost contrived to let it slip through his fingers as Federer won five games in a row.

Forced into a medical time-out with his legs barely functioning and wracked with a lack of belief, the Serbian knew the “Choke-ovic” jibes would haunt him if he failed again.

However, despite being break point down midway through the decider, he somehow found the conviction to conquer the doubts.

Navratilova said: “This would have been a big monkey on his back.

“The biggest physical effort ever was when Rafa Nadal won the Australian Open a couple of years ago, beating Andy Murray in five sets in the semi then Djokovic.

“But this was the biggest emotional effort I can remember.

“I thought Novak was gone. The mental resolve it took for him to keep fighting was incredible.”

Djokovic, who has now won seven Slams, took Boris Becker on board as part of his team because he wanted to rediscover how to beat other members of the Big Four.

And three-time Wimbledon champion Becker delivered as he got one over old rival Stefan Edberg, who is now Federer’s coach.

Becker said: “Stefan knows a lot more about tennis than 99 per cent of those in the sport and I’m not far behind. It was time for the top players to understand that if they want to improve and get more knowledge, they should go to the veterans who have done it before.”